General treatment for wc chams?
- Thread starter Warrix642
- Start date
summoner12
Avid Member
Fecals are a good idea when getting a WC. It gives you an idea what you are up against. Most WC chams have parasites... some aren't as bad as others..... but you never know. Since you have other animals it would be a good idea to know what parasites so you know how to handle him. If you have a really nasty hard to kill parasite you are going to want to be as OCD as you can about washing hands, cleaning the cage and keeping the animals separate.
Panacur is a good thing to have when keeping WC animals. You can get it at LLL Reptile for like 17 bucks. The tube will do MANY treatments. You want to give .1ml for every 100g of chameleon.... so a 200g chameleon should get a dose of .2ml. It is also hard to OD an animal on Panacur. Panacur takes out a lot of common parasites, but this is no excuse not get a fecal.
some other things to keep in mind.... Hydrate your cham ASAP. WCs that are freshly imported need lots of water and food.
Weigh your cham once you get him home. Keep an eye on his weight. It will help keep track of his health... you know something isn't right went weight starts to drop off.
Panacur is a good thing to have when keeping WC animals. You can get it at LLL Reptile for like 17 bucks. The tube will do MANY treatments. You want to give .1ml for every 100g of chameleon.... so a 200g chameleon should get a dose of .2ml. It is also hard to OD an animal on Panacur. Panacur takes out a lot of common parasites, but this is no excuse not get a fecal.
some other things to keep in mind.... Hydrate your cham ASAP. WCs that are freshly imported need lots of water and food.
Weigh your cham once you get him home. Keep an eye on his weight. It will help keep track of his health... you know something isn't right went weight starts to drop off.
I would recommend quarantining your new chameleon for several months...in a separate room...feeding, cleaning, etc. last and not going back into the room with your other critters. Water it, feed it and leave it alone most of the time so it can adjust to its new home.
I usually let them get accustomed to their new home for a couple of weeks before I take them in for parasite tests/treatment...it can decrease the parasite bloom that often happens under the stress of capture, etc. However, if the chameleon is acting sick, then it will have to be tested/treated sooner.
Just getting a medication for parasites will avoid the cost of the vet, but you won't even know if the chameleon has parasites (some don't) or not and you certainly won't know what the parasites are that it has. So...you won't know if you treated it unnecessarily or got all the parasites or not. You need to know its weight and the strength/dose of the medication you will be giving it too.
I usually let them get accustomed to their new home for a couple of weeks before I take them in for parasite tests/treatment...it can decrease the parasite bloom that often happens under the stress of capture, etc. However, if the chameleon is acting sick, then it will have to be tested/treated sooner.
Just getting a medication for parasites will avoid the cost of the vet, but you won't even know if the chameleon has parasites (some don't) or not and you certainly won't know what the parasites are that it has. So...you won't know if you treated it unnecessarily or got all the parasites or not. You need to know its weight and the strength/dose of the medication you will be giving it too.
sttines
Member
Warrix,
To add some species specifics; WATER!!!!!! for this cristatus. They require heavy hydration right from the start as most of their time in transit has not been provided with such. If you have a fine mister head system, you can run it for several hours off and on throughout the day and if you have a heavy fog humidifier, that's good too. Venta Sonic at BedBathBeyond is a good one, albeit pricey. This is one of my favorite species and this is a simple, inexpensive way to provide an essential element to their acclimating. And you'll need your money for possible parasite treatments. They are fragile so I would try my own fecals and quarantine at first and WATERWATERWATER.
To complicate it, bacteria and fungus can form in wet environments so its a trick to get the right balance but don't underestimate what long showers can do for this one. The drip cup and spray bottle twice a day are not enough the first weeks. Good luck.
To add some species specifics; WATER!!!!!! for this cristatus. They require heavy hydration right from the start as most of their time in transit has not been provided with such. If you have a fine mister head system, you can run it for several hours off and on throughout the day and if you have a heavy fog humidifier, that's good too. Venta Sonic at BedBathBeyond is a good one, albeit pricey. This is one of my favorite species and this is a simple, inexpensive way to provide an essential element to their acclimating. And you'll need your money for possible parasite treatments. They are fragile so I would try my own fecals and quarantine at first and WATERWATERWATER.
To complicate it, bacteria and fungus can form in wet environments so its a trick to get the right balance but don't underestimate what long showers can do for this one. The drip cup and spray bottle twice a day are not enough the first weeks. Good luck.
Rocky
Established Member
What sttines said is some really good advice. When we got our first WC in we a potted plant for them to get in (Schefflera) and left it outside and I literally sat there and watered the tree with a fine mister for about 2-3 hours. It helped them really hydrate up and I think the natural light also helped them calm down after being in a box for a while.
